Mission | History | Board of Directors | Staff | Financial Statements | Job Opportunities
As a matter of justice and compassion, Columbia Road Health Services provides comprehensive, high quality, culturally sensitive primary care to persons in the community who have limited access to health care.
A faith based community health center, Columbia Road Health Services, through careful stewardship of funds, offers medical, dental, mental health and social services regardless of ability to pay. We also seek to support and enrich the lives of patients by advocating for them on a personal and community basis, and instilling hope through encouragement and guidance for positive change.
In 1975, Dr. Janelle Goetcheus was waiting for a visa to Pakistan to serve as a medical missionary. During her wait, she and her husband, Allen, a United Methodist minister, decided to visit friends at the Church of the Saviour, an ecumenical church in Washington, DC.
“That was an eye-opening time for me because I knew there were health needs overseas, but I had never heard anybody talk about these needs in the inner-city,” Janelle says. By the time a visa came through the family already had decided to move to the District.
In 1979, Columbia Road Health Services officially opened its doors to address the tremendous need for health care for those who could not afford it. We have grown from a two-bedroom apartment where Janelle saw patients to a two-story health center with eight practitioners, twelve medical assistants, a registered nurse, a social worker, two case managers, a pastoral counselor, a mental health counselor, and a nutritionist. We see patients six days a week, and a practitioner is on-call 24 hours a day to handle patient emergencies.
In 1982, CRHS moves to its current location at 1660 Columbia Road, next to the Church of the Saviour's The Potter's House.
By the early 1980s, it was apparent that there was a growing need for in-patient hospice care for the homeless population in Washington, DC. On Christmas Eve in 1985, Christ House, a 32-bed health care facility for the ill and homeless, opened its door. To learn more about Christ House, please click here.
In 1988, CRHS staff founded Mary's Center as a facility for providing pre-natal care.
In 2002, Columbia Road Health Services was designated a Federally Qualified Health Center. This designation brings funding that allows us to increase office hours into the evenings and weekends and hire additional staff members to provide care during those times. As a part of the expansion, CRHS commits to adding dental care and expanding mental health services.
In 2004, Columbia Road Health Services celebrated 25 years of service to the community.
By the end of 2005, CRHS has doubled patient visits from about 8,000 per year to 16,000 per year as a result of the FQHC designation and expanded office hours.
The staff at Columbia Road Health Services staff is composed of an interdisciplinary group of professionals and support staff who bring a wealth of expertise and commitment to their work.
Dr. Anton Vroon, Chief Medical Officer, and Dr. Donald Martin, Associate Medical Director, provide clinical leadership. The remaining 40 Columbia Road Health Services employees provide medical, nursing, social work, and counseling services as well as administrative support.
Administration
| Chief Executive Officer | Anton Vroon, MD, MSW |
| Chief Operations Officer | Deborah Shepard |
| Chief Financial Officer | Susan Riggs |
| Administrative Assistant | Nelida Roldan |
| Policy Specialist | M. Susan Wallin, MHSA |
| Development Director | Anjali Aiyappa |
| Development Assistant | Colleen Hughes |
| Bookkeeper | S. Liliana Muñoz |
| Billing Specialist | Berkeley McPherson |
| Receptionists | Antonia Deleon |
| Mary Luna | |
| Maria Carrasco | |
| Hassell Najarro |
Medical Services
| Chief Medical Officer | Anton Vroon, MD, MSW |
| Associate Medical Director | Donald Martin, MD |
| Physicians | Donna Chacko, MD |
| Marguerite Duane, MD | |
| Janelle Goetcheus, MD (founder) | |
| Rona Schwartz, MD | |
| Tonya Wanko, MD | |
| Nurse Manager/Diabetes Case Manager | William Jordan, CRNP |
| Triage Nurse | Monica Naumann, CRNP |
| Medical Assistants | Renan Aguilar |
| Flor Carranza | |
| Ana Chavez | |
| Carmen Donis | |
| Camila Espinoza | |
| Yeshimebet Gebreyes | |
| Rosalía Gohring | |
| Roxana Lopez | |
| Marylen Morel | |
| Cecilia Rengifo | |
| Nataly Solano | |
| Teka Tessema | |
| Alma Tobar | |
| Hugo Turcios | |
| Medical Assistant/Billing Assistant | Catalina Alba |
Social Services
| Social Work Director/Mental Health Therapist | Bernadete Aldrich, MSW |
| Case Managers | Mirna Jiminez |
| Nadia Rengifo | |
| Community Health Worker |
Arody Vasquez Lilian Mustafa |
Counseling Services
| Mental Health Counselor | Debra Vekstein, MS, LPC |
Support Services
| Custodians | James "Deac" Ford |
| Raymond Gooding | |
| Lab Courier | Gerald Henderson |
| Statement Processor | Lyne Webster |
| Security Officer | Robert Easley |
Columbia Road Health Services is guided by an 13-member Board of Directors composed of individuals who live or work in our service area. We believe that strong client participation is crucial in designing a strong delivery of service. That is why more than half of our Board members are patients at Columbia Road Health Services, and they are ethnically representative of our patient population.
John J. Lynch, MD, Chairman
Rochelle Archuleta, Vice Chair
Richard
Battista, Treasurer
Betsy Vieth,
Secretary
Maureen
Carroll
Sally King
Wilbur
Smith
Irenia Martinez
For the Fiscal Year Ending December 31, 2006
Support & Revenue
| Grants and Contributions | $693;871 |
| Medical Revenue | $1,389,619 |
| Contract Revenues |
$1,097,493 |
| Donated Services (physician and nurse salaries) | $383,423 |
| Other Income | $22,869 |
| TOTAL | $3,882,207 |
Expenses
| Program Services | $3,164,754 |
| Medical | |
| Social Work | |
| Counseling | |
| Nutrition | |
| General & Administrative | $491,464 |
| Fundraising |
$120,312 |
| TOTAL | $3,777,217 |
Source: Columbia Road Health Services, Inc., Report and Financial Statements, December 31, 2006. Prepared by Bish & Haffey, certified public accountants. A copy of the full report is available upon request.
Medical Assistant
Columbia Road Health Services, a faith-based community health center located in Adams Morgan, seeks a full-time or part-time Medical Assistant. The primary responsibilities of the Medical Assistant are to assist the Practitioners with patient intake including but not limited to: interviewing patients, measuring vital signs, maintaining cleanliness of exam rooms and instruments, administering injections, providing patient education, collecting laboratory specimens and other duties as assigned by the Practitioner or Nurse Manager. Qualified candidates should have Medical Assistant Certification and/or a bachelor’s degree in a related area. You must be bilingual English/Spanish although additional language skills are a plus. You must have basic demonstrated computer skills. Previous professional experience as a Medical Assistant is highly preferred. You may fax your resume to Deborah Shepard at 202-588-8101 or send an e-mail to
admin@crhs.org with "Medical Assistant Application" in the Subject Line.
